Cambodian journalist released from prison in amnesty

New York, April 27, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the April 13 release from prison of Hang Chakra, editor and publisher of the opposition-aligned Khmer Machas Srok daily newspaper in Cambodia.

He was granted a royal pardon after serving nine months of
a one-year sentence on a “criminal disinformation” conviction over a series of
critical articles on alleged high-level government corruption. He was among 43
prisoners given amnesty ahead of Cambodia’s mid-April Buddhist New
Year celebrations.

According to the Phnom
Penh Post, Hang Chakra wrote to Prime Minister Hun Sen on July 8 to
apologize and pledged not to report on government corruption in the future if
he was released. The English-language daily newspaper quoted Hang Chakra’s
letter saying that he had “repeatedly failed to act properly and seriously.”

But since his release, Hang Chakra has stated publicly his
intention to continue publishing Khmer
Machas Srok, which, according to news reports, recently suspended
publication for financial reasons. The newspaper is affiliated with the opposition
Sam Rainsy Party, whose eponymous leader was recently stripped of his
parliamentary immunity and fled into exile in France.

“Hang Chakra never should have been imprisoned in the
first place on these trumped-up charges,” said Shawn
Crispin, CPJ’s Senior Southeast Asia Representative. “Prime
Minister Hun Sen has failed to uphold his pledge to stop jailing journalists
for their reporting.”

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni had written to Hun Sen in
October last year calling for Hang Chakra’s release, but his request was
refused for unknown reasons.

Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodia’s People’s Party (CPP)
maintains strong editorial influence over the country’s mainstream print and
broadcast media, which seldom publishes or airs reports critical of top level
officials in his administration. His government recently cracked down on
freedom of expression, including among parliamentarians, after a period of
relative openness.